Monday, September 3, 2012

Full-on


Last weekend, I was in Chikmaglur for a workshop for young businessmen from Zone 14 of JCI-India. During the inaugural ceremony, the chief guest, B R Sachidananda made an important observation about types of applause. He pointed out that while some do it half-heartedly, there are others whose hands come together, but do not really connect. He put up the pertinent poser, ‘if we choose to do something, why don’t we do it whole heartedly?’

So often, so many of us hold back the fullness of response… the applause is weak… the handshake is feeble… the greeting is mechanical… the smile is a superficial curl… the laugh is a put-on… In the midst of many situations, our response can oft be a careless ritual or a lackadaisical reaction. We so easily hold back, when we must be full-on!

Such apathy leads to a compromised confidence. Being full-on, in every situation, is the way to be better at an uncompromised confidence that can bolster not only self esteem, but also unveil the immense possibilities of our own potential. Doing things in a lax manner has a demoralizing effect and we can catch the bad habit of a put-on response.

Around us, we will find that truly dynamic people are consistently full-on, be it applause or appreciation, smile or mirth, greeting or any other response…  When Sachidananda convinced my participants to clap full-on, the biggest beneficiaries were they themselves. The body language was positive, the eyes were mirroring the enthusiasm and happiness was self imposed. Being full-on proved liberating!

We must ensure that our reaction is never a put-on…
Let’s BE BETTER at responding unequivocally full-on!

- Pravin K. Sabnis

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